Online Public Relations Thoughts

Daily entries on Public Relations and communications ideas and trends

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Over Control

This incident is old news, but it continues to annoy. The case of a planted questioner at Mrs. Clinton's rally is a typical example of marketing over-control. It is also an example of what has happened to PR in recent years. The desire to get rid of variability produces embarrassing outcomes. Unfortunately, campaigning and life are changeable. The unexpected intrudes, and one learns to deal with it. Voters and the public look for how individuals and companies handle change because it shows character beneath the mask. When one shields an individual or organization from the unplanned, the result is an artificial wall, which will break over time. Usually an individual or organization that has lived within the wall is unprepared and unequipped to handle what pierces defenses.

Mrs. Clinton claimed she knew nothing about what was happening, and the plant was the result of an over-zealous staff. Maybe so, but it is telling that an individual tolerates such over control. What would she do as president where emergencies flood into the oval office day and night?